Day 293 of 365

Jer 28:1–29:32

28:1 It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

28:2 "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

28:3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon:

28:4 and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,' says the Lord; 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"

28:5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord,

28:6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen: Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.

28:7 Nevertheless hear you now this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:

28:8 The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.

28:9 The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord has truly sent him."

28:10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broke it.

28:11 Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations.'" The prophet Jeremiah went his way.

28:12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

28:13 "Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord: You have broken the bars of wood; but you have made in their place bars of iron.

28:14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also."'"

28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, "Hear now, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie.

28:16 Therefore thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the earth: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.'"

28:17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon,

29:2 (after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem),

29:3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying,

29:4 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon:

29:5 'Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit.

29:6 Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and do not be diminished.

29:7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you shall have peace.'

29:8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Do not let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

29:9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name: I have not sent them,' says the Lord.

29:10 "For thus says the Lord, 'After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for your welfare, and not for calamity, to give you hope and a future.

29:12 You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

29:13 You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

29:14 I will be found by you,' says the Lord, 'and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you,' says the Lord; 'and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.'

29:15 "Because you have said, 'The Lord has raised us up prophets in Babylon';

29:16 thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven't gone forth with you into captivity;

29:17 thus says the Lord of hosts; 'Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can't be eaten, they are so bad.

29:18 I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them;

29:19 because they have not listened to my words,' says the Lord, 'with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,' says the Lord.

29:20 'Hear therefore the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.'

29:21 "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: 'Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes;

29:22 and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "The Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire";

29:23 because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness,' says the Lord."

29:24 "Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying,

29:25 'Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, "Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

29:26 'The Lord has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of the Lord, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles.

29:27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you,

29:28 because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, "The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit?"'"'

29:29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

29:30 Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

29:31 "Send to all them of the captivity, saying, 'Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: "Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;

29:32 therefore," thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to my people, says the Lord, because he has spoken rebellion against the Lord."'"

Gal 5:1–26

1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.

5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.

7 You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?

8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.

9 A little yeast grows through the whole lump.

10 I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.

11 But I, brothers, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.

12 I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.

13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only do not use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.

14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

15 But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you do not consume one another.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,

21 envyings, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,

23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

Job 23:1–17

1 Then Job answered,

2 "Even today my complaint is rebellious. His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!

4 I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would tell me.

6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, but he would listen to me.

7 There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.

8 "If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can't find him;

9 He works to the north, but I can't see him. He turns south, but I can't catch a glimpse of him.

10 But he knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth like gold.

11 My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.

12 I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

13 But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.

14 For he performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things are with him.

15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence. When I consider, I am afraid of him.

16 For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me.

17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.